"He tells us he works out, but we didn't see it. He wasn't in shape. That has to be a reason why he was always hurt."

Woodley has four sacks (all of them in 2012) in his last 15 games dating back to the midpoint of the 2011 season, when he suffered a hamstring injury.

Pittsburgh finished with an 8-8 record in 2012 and missed the playoffs, and anonymous sniping is a good indication of a team in some measure of turmoil. "It shows there's a fracture in there" safety Ryan Clark told NFL Network's NFL AM of the normally tight team.

Later, on NFL Total Access, Clark called the quotes about Woodley "cowardly."

Added Clark: "It makes me sad to be a leader of that team that we don't have enough control of our locker room where guys feel like they have a brotherhood and a family where they can communicate things between each other and keep them out of the media."

If the Steelers are to get back on the path to a record seventh Lombardi Trophy, they clearly need Woodley at 100% ... and they'll also need to dethrone the Baltimore Ravens. That's an obvious reminder, but it's germane to this discussion considering Woodley told NFL Network in 2011 of Joe Flacco's chances of getting to a Super Bowl: "That's not gonna happen in this lifetime."

Life is all too short. And so are the careers of players who don't produce after signing megacontracts, something Woodley needs to remember whether or not he was coasting last year.